ProGov21 Policy Library

California’s Hero Labor Law: The Private Attorneys General Act Fights Wage Theft and Recovers Millions from Lawbreaking Corporations

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level State

State(s) California

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice

Though California has enacted numerous laws that help workers recover stolen wages, access paid leave from work, and enforce safe and humane working conditions, such legislation fails to deliver economic security to working Californians unless accompanied by strong enforcement mechanisms....

Warning: Bossware May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level State, National

State(s) All States

Source Center for Democracy & Technology

Policy Areas Health, Data & Technology

Bossware refers to systems that closely monitor and actively manage workers’ activities and performance. In particular, modern worker monitoring technologies (i.e. sensors and cameras that track workers’ physical movements, handheld scanners scanners that track each item a warehouse...

Child Care Teachers Are Essential Workers—Let’s Treat Them That Way

Type Fact Sheet or Infographic

Year 2020

Level County, State

State(s) All States

Source Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice, Education, Health, Public Safety

During the COVID-19 pandemic, early educators are being asked to serve children of other essential workers without the appropriate pay, health care, and personal protective equipment (PPE) or recognition that should come with risking their lives. This infographic outlines the risks...

2023 Chicago Ordinance Increasing Paid Leave

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2023

Level City or Town

State(s) Illinois

Source City of Chicago

Policy Areas Children & Families, Democracy & Governance, Economic Justice

The updated Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance doubles workers' paid time off, allocating 40 hours of paid sick leave and 40 hours of paid leave for unspecified purposes. It also requires large employers to pay out all unused paid leave upon an employee's separation...

Four Case Studies and Lessons for Advancing Community Health through Community Benefits Agreements

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2010

Level City or Town

State(s) All States, California

Source Pacific Institute

Policy Areas Community Development, Economic Justice

Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) are legally binding contracts between developers and community groups to ensure development projects deliver benefits to residents. This report examines how CBAs can advance community health outcomes and examines four case studies from California:...

A Transit Agenda for the COVID-19 Emergency

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source Transit Center

Policy Areas Public Safety, Health, Transportation & Mobility

The effects of COVID-19 pose serious challenges for safe and reliable transit service. This report summarizes current epidemiological knowledge about COVID-19 and transit, and explores how city dwellers feel about utilizing public transportation again. Using this information, the...

2013 Bernalillo County Ordinance 2013-12 Establishing Changes to the Minimum Wage

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2013

Level Other Boards and Agencies

State(s) New Mexico

Source Bernalillo County

Policy Areas Economic Justice

This ordinance requires that all employers pay no less than the minimum wage and specifies the required minimums for tipped workers and health or childcare workers. It also mandates a minimum wage increase from $7.50 to $8.50 per hour over the following year and includes a cost-of-living...

The Road to Shared Prosperity: The Regional Economic Benefits for the San Pedro Bay Ports' Clean Trucks Program

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2007

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

Policy Areas Environment & Natural Resources, Transportation & Mobility

This brief presents the benefits of a Clean Trucks Program (CTP) for the San Pedro Bay port area. High-volume port trucking in this region creates costly externalities, and drivers often receive substandard pay and benefits. The brief argues that CTP would return nearly $4.2 billion...

Algorithm-Driven Hiring Tools: Innovative Recruitment or Expedited Disability Discrimination

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town, State, National

State(s) All States

Source Center for Democracy & Technology

Policy Areas Civil Rights, Data & Technology

Employers use algorithm-driven hiring tools as a fast and efficient way to process job applications in large numbers. Job-seekers are increasingly asked to record videos (that employers mine for facial and vocal cues), complete online tests (that are used to evaluate their optimism...

2014 Philadelphia Ordinance 130687 Prohibiting Employment Discrimination on the Basis of Pregnancy or Childbirth

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2014

Level City or Town

State(s) Pennsylvania

Source Philadelphia City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Health, Children & Families

This ordinance makes unlawful employment discrimination against pregnant women and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee's pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition at the employee's request. The ordinance defines a reasonable accommodation...

National Survey of Gig Workers Paints a Picture of Poor Working Conditions, Low Pay

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level National

State(s) All States

Source Economic Policy Institute

Policy Areas Economic Justice

Firms like Uber, DoorDash, and others have amassed market power by circumventing labor rights through the practice of classifying their workers as contractors rather than employees. Many of the firms within the so-called "gig economy" have argued that the freedom to choose when to...

2022 Austin Ordinance 31 Establishing Wage Theft Prevention Standards

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2022

Level City or Town

State(s) Texas

Source City of Austin

Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Economic Justice

This ordinance combats wage theft by requiring the city to designate a wage theft coordinator, establishing a database of employers with a record of wage theft adjudication, and preventing offending employers from contracting with the city. It also outlines the wage theft coordinator's...

2022 Cleveland Ordinance 892-2022 Preventing Wage Theft and Payroll Fraud

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2022

Level City or Town

State(s) Ohio

Source City of Cleveland

Policy Areas Civil Rights

This ordinance prevents persons or entities that have engaged in wage theft or payroll fraud from bidding on city services or construction contracts or receiving financial assistance from the city. It also requires the city to create a database of entities that have committed such...

Preempting Progress in the Heartland: State Lawmakers in the Midwest Prevent Shared Prosperity and Racial, Gender, and Immigrant Justice by Interfering in Local Policymaking

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source EARN

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance

Across the midwest, conservative state lawmakers have increasingly used preemption—a tactic whereby a higher level of government limits or eliminates the power of a lower-level government to regulate an issue—to reduce the policy tools and power available to local lawmakers. This...

Berkeley Minimum Wage Ordinance

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2011

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source Berkeley City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Finance & Procurement

This ordinance requires employers to pay their employees no less than the City's minimum wage. Beginning at $12.53 in 2016, the minimum wage shall increase yearly by an amount corresponding to changes in the Consumer Price Index. It also requires any service or gratuity charges to...

Balancing Work and Family: The Economic Effects of Earned Paid Sick Time

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2014

Level City or Town

State(s) Massachusetts

Source MassBudget

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Children & Families, Health

This brief examines challenges faced by working families and the role that earned paid sick time can play in helping families meet those challenges. It finds that paid sick time allows families to meet basic needs, increases long-term employment, and prevents unnecessary health expenses....

Public Task Forces Take on Employee Misclassification: Best Practices

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town, County, Other Boards and Agencies, State

State(s) All States

Source National Employment Law Project

Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Economic Justice

Cities, states, and workers' organizations have established interagency task forces to take on companies that illegally misclassify workers. This report provides an overview of best practices for creating worker misclassification task forces and highlights successful case studies....

10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2012

Level City or Town, State

State(s) All States

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Public Safety, Health

The U.S. economy is headed towards greater inequality as middle-class jobs are becoming increasingly scarce, while low wage jobs are growing. This report details ten proposals to strengthen the economy for the long term by creating “good” jobs and addressing the economic insecurity...

Raising the Minimum Wage Leads to Significant Gains for Workers, not to ‘Benefits Cliffs’

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level City or Town, County, State

State(s) All States

Source National Employment Law Project

Policy Areas Children & Families, Democracy & Governance, Economic Justice, Finance & Procurement

Minimum wage increases have raised questions about whether income improvements will push working families above eligibility thresholds for public assistance programs. This report analyzes minimum data from across the country and finds that most major benefits programs gradually phase...

At a Crossroads: Options for Fire and Emergency Medical Services in the City of Milton

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2021

Level City or Town

State(s) Wisconsin

Source Wisconsin Policy Forum

Policy Areas Community Development, Finance & Procurement, Public Safety

In response to labor shortages, fiscal challenges, and recruitment and retention barriers facing emergency medical services (EMS) agencies across Wisconsin, the City of Milton is considering alternative options for their future fire and rescue services. This report evaluates the city's...

2000 Santa Cruz Living Wage Ordinance 25

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2000

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source Santa Cruz City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance, Finance & Procurement

This ordinance requires city service contractors to pay workers a living wage. Each year the city council will review and extend the living wage by at least an amount which corresponds to the cost of living increase as measured by the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area Consumer...

2014 Los Angeles Ordinance Establishing a Minimum Wage for Hotel Workers

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 2014

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source Council of the City of Los Angeles

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

According to the Economic Development Department, 43 percent of the people who work in hotels in Los Angeles earn wages that put them below the federal poverty line. This ordinance adds Article 6 to Chapter XVIII of the Los Angeles Municipal Code requiring a minimum wage for hotel...

The Companies Behind the Surge in Illegal Child Labor

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2024

Level National

State(s) All States

Source Good Jobs First

Policy Areas Children & Families, Economic Justice

Federal enforcement data reveals a significant surge in illegal child labor mostly driven by large retail and restaurant chains. Penalties for violations remain low and enforcement is generally insufficient to deter the use of child labor. This report advocates for stricter federal...

The Role of Local Government in Protecting Workers Rights

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2022

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States, Wyoming

Source Local Progress

Policy Areas Community Development, Democracy & Governance, Economic Justice, Health, Public Safety

Protecting and advancing worker' rights are central functions of local governments. This report provides an overview of some of the most noteworthy ways in which localities have taken action on behalf of working people, in spite of challenges imposed by federal and state preemption...

1999 Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance 172336

Type Ordinance or Resolution

Year 1999

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source Los Angeles City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This ordinance requires that nothing less than a living wage be paid to employees of the city's service contractors, of certain of its lessees and licensees, and of its financial assistance recipients. Employers should also provide at least 12 compensated days off per year and some...

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